Act I: Van Heuk Memorial Hospital
Dr Ari Loess walked into the ICU and met his colleague Dr Shu He at the nurses' station. " What is this I hear about a new patient?" Ari asked.
" She came in early this morning, she was a total mess" said Shu, " forty nine stitches, sixteen staples, three finger splints, and one good concussion. She is still unconscious but she survived this far I think she'll get through the rest of the way."
" What happened to her?" asked Ari.
" State police found her stumbling out of the Meller Mansion" said Shu.
" You're kidding" he replied, " you don't think those old legends are true?"
" Got me, all I know is that the girl in Room 4 was attacked by something big, mean, and strong" she replied, " I hate to think what happened to anybody else in there."

The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor filled the room as Steve Green watched her. She was goth trash judging by the remains of the clothing the doc cut off her, a few tatts and some bullshit silver necklace thing. But her boobs were big, Steve liked when his victims were busty. Steve carefully closed the door, he didn't have long but enough time before one of the nurses came by to do their rounds. He turned the lock with a soft click, this bitch wasn't going to hear it. Fuck none of them knew what hit them after Steve was through with them.

On the bed 17 year old Harriet Prentiss was trapped in herself. The last 24 hour a blur of heaven and hell. She knew she wasn't dead, her mind still was on fire with pain surrounded by a cloud of fog, but she couldn't make her body work. She wondered if she was in a coma, or worse she was a vegetable. At least she was comforted by the fact that her parents were far too cheap to leave her hooked up for long, at least she wouldn't be this way for long. Harriet relaxed in her mind she was started thinking back to when this all started. It was a stupid idea from the beginning but she knew when it was Shannon asking she was powerless to say no.

It began in study hall, Harriet was in a great mood, tonight was Halloween and while she didn't have a party to go to, but she had a huge pile of DVDs, a bottle of expensive wine, and most importantly the entire house all to herself. Harriet didn't even care that she still had two weeks of detention left, tonight was Friday and there was no detention on Fridays. She was busy reading her book of HP Lovecraft when somebody sat down next to her. She kept all her attention in her book, it was either the stupid teacher wanting to know if everything was okay at home or some jock wanted to know if she slept in a coffin.
There were a few goths at J.R. Latimer High, but not enough for the school to accept them as part of the high school landscape. Harriet wasn't even the most gothic, true her skin was alabaster, her hair long and wonderfully natural black, but she didn't have those ridiculous teeth caps or always talked about death like the others. Because she wasn't as silly as them she was branded a poser by them and they hated her too. Harriet was a student without a clique, truly the worst place to be in high school.
After a few minutes a long red fingernail slowly pushed the book down. " That interesting huh" said Shannon Bridger with a big smile on her face.
Shannon had been one of Harriet's friends in middle school, they'd grown up across the street from each other but in middle school the pair quickly grew apart. " What's up?" asked Harriet, wondering what kind of hell was in store for her.
" I was wondering if you could lend me a hand?" asked Shannon, Harriet immediately wondered what she was up to.
" Doing what?" asked Harriet.
Shannon leaned in close, her ruby red lips almost touching Harriet's ear. " Breaking into the Meller's Mansion" she whispered so low Harriet could barely hear.
Harriet looked at Shannon with big eyes, she was insane. The Meller Mansion was Blue Harbor's spook house. In the 70s the last of the Meller's family had just come into the last of his inheritance and threw a wild party to celebrate. Now no one was quiet sure what happened next, most say in a drug induced mania Meller killed all 18 guests in the house before hanging himself in the entry way. But other, mostly those that like a good yarn, tell stories about another Meller, a deformed and hideous creature that the family had left chained in the basement. They say that this creature escaped and so fueled with rage for his brother that he killed them all. Whatever happened the next morning they found 19 dead bodies in the house. The place was boarded up and two gates built around it to keep curious teenagers and relic hunters away.
" I don't know" said Harriet, cataloguing all the difficulties it would take to get in there.
" Please" whispered Shannon, her hand reaching out under the table.
Harriet felt Shannon's cool, silky smooth hand gently come to rest on her thigh under her plaid skirt and give it a long gentle squeeze. " Hmm?" Shannon purred blatting her big blue eyes.
There was no way Harriet could say no. This was a dream, albeit a wet dream, come true for Harriet who had the biggest crush on Shannon. Harriet for speechless for a moment, for a girl known for her sharp tongue it was truly a new experience. After a few moments she managed to cough out, " Sure."
" Great" said Shannon with a big smile that advertised all her perfect white teeth, " meet us at the gate around 8 or so."
" Wha... what should I wear" Harriet mumbled out.
" Oh, you're perfect they way you are" said Shannon, " just make sure you can get us inside. The fate of the best Halloween party ever depends on it."
Harriet was barely able to nod, this was all very hard for her to process at once. It all seemed too surreal to be true but who was she to argue. Just the chance to be close to Shannon was enough for her.
Looking back at it Harriet knew this would be nothing but trouble, she didn't rank in Shannon's world, most of Shannon's friends hated Harriet. But Harriet was blinded by love, lust was probably more accurate, 18 year old hormones make people do the stupidest things.

The final school bell snapped Harriet from her stunned trance and shot from her chair very eager to escape school. She made it through the halls of school in record time and was in her 98 Blue Jeep Cherokee before most students even had reached their lockers.
Harriet drove through the quaint New England town of Blue Harbor where she lived. God she hated it, quaint was just another word for backward and being New England everybody acted like they were hot shit even in this little town. Top of that list were her parents, they weren't exactly as well to do as the neighbors but were more than willing to max out credit card after credit card to make it look like they belonged. It drove Harriet nuts but her parents and she didn't talk much anymore, they both knew where the other stood and left it at that at the end of the year they were throwing her out so both sides were determined to keep the frail peace for the sake of appearances.
Harriet rolled into the driveway not bothering to drive all the way back to the garage at the end of the yard and climbed out. She skipped up the side steps and took her keys out. It was a big set: it had the two house keys, the garage key, the key to her parent's liquor cabinet, they didn't know she had that one, the keys to her car, the keys to her mother's car, the keys to the attic, the keys to her steamer trunk which held all her private stuff she didn't want anybody digging through, the key to the center draw in her desk where she hid the stuff she really didn't want anybody finding, and keys to three padlocks which the family no longer knew the location of, in addition to several key chain ornaments from various Japanese Anime series, Halloween themes, and a blue metal Japanese kanji for ghost.
Harriet walked into the kitchen and kicked her old Vans off. She hurried through the kitchen and up the stairs towards her room. She had to get ready.

Harriet entered her room where her black cat, Snowflake, was sleeping in the middle of her bed. " Hey Snow" said Harriet, tugging her socks off, " sorry you'll have to spend Halloween by yourself, I get to commit a little B&E for Shannon."
Harriet looked at herself in the mirror, her hair starting to get long again. Harriet decided to braid it that would make it easier to deal with. She sat in front of her mirror carefully braiding her long black hair into two equal length pig tails that went behind her ears and down past her shoulders. She put on just a little extra make-up, not enough that it would be noticeable but she wanted to look nice for Shannon.
Harriet stood and slipped her hands under her red and black plaid skirt. She gently tugged her panties off and threw them at her already full hamper. She walked over to her dresser and pulled the top drawer open. She fished through the sea of dark coloured underwear until she found what she wanted. She pulled out her extremely low cut black lace bikini panties and slipped them on. She always looked at these panties as lucky and hoped they would come through tonight.
Harriet pulled on her black and white stripped knee socks and spent the next hour pacing about her room much to the amusement of Snowflake until she decided she couldn't take it anymore and went to her desk. She slipped her little key into the drawer and turned the lock with a heavy click.
Inside the desk was Harriet's private stuff, chief among them was a black nylon case. Inside were her lock picks, a complete locksmith grade set, there was nothing she couldn't pick with these puppies. Harriet took the case out and flipped the two sides open. She inspected each pick carefully, tonight was her big night and she didn't want a pick to break and embarrass her. They hadn't been used since Harriet had to break into her own room after Snowflake found a way to lock her out. She knew her picks wouldn't let her down and flipped the case closed.
At 6:45 Harriet couldn't stand it anymore and decided to get to the Meller Mansion early to scope things out, it would give her something to do instead of impatiently pacing about her room. She put on her knee length black boots and gave Snowflake a big kiss on the nose. " See you tomorrow girlie" she said before skipping out of her room.

Across the street facing Blue Harbor was Shannon's house. She and her three closest friends, Charisma Walker, Mandy Daniels, and Jill Howard were having a pre-party cocktail and cigarette before slipping into their costumes. " You really think it is a great idea to invite Harriet?" asked Jill, " I mean she is a dyke."
" So what" said Shannon, " nobody here is going to claim they haven't tried it. But I mean Harriet is a goth, Halloween is their version of Christmas. Besides you know anybody that can pick locks? If we get caught she'll go to prison and not us."
" Okay, but would you?" asked Charisma, playing with her henna tattoo on her arm.
" I don't know" said Shannon, " I mean if I get drunk enough you knows what will happen. Jill might even get down between her legs."
The girls had a laugh at Jill's expense. Jill hated Harriet more than the others for what reason she never precisely said but Jill was the type of girl to take even the smallest slight and carrying it for years letting it grow bigger and bigger with time. " So are we going to invite anybody else?" asked Mandy, " like some other cute boys?"
" My brother is bringing some people over from Copper River" said Shannon, " bet there will be a few cute college boys, they can show our guys how older men can truly satisfy."
The girls all laughed, " Well I don't know about you girls but I am making sure I don't wear anything that can't be ripped off me tonight" said Mandy.
" They better not rip my costume" said Jill, " this is a rental."
" Speaking of that" said Charisma, " we should probably start getting into them if we are going to get all the way over to the Meller Mansion by 8."
The girls finished their drinks, crushed their cigarettes in Shannon's ash tray and started to get dressed. Shannon was going as a flapper in a black gunny sack dress with a red feather boa. She and Charisma did her hair up into a style of the time. Charisma was going as Little Red Riding Hood, she wore a tight red leotard that was a little too snug for her chest, black fishnet stockings, black boots, and a big red cloak with black interior. She was going to carry a basket full of party favors, liquor in varying types and sizes and a few controlled substances, plenty of stuff to make the party interesting. Mandy was going as a sexy nurse with an extra low cut top and short skirt. Jill was, rather aptly, dressed in a big renaissance princess dress. " Girls" announced Shannon, " let's go party in the haunted house."

Harriet drove through town, this was the only time of year Harriet found this town remotely livable. It was the one time a year this town came together and made it look cool. Carved pumpkins were sitting on railings of porches or on doorsteps, groups of kids in expensive store bought Halloween costumes were running up and down the sidewalks carrying pillow cases and big orange pumpkins lit with neon green glow sticks. Harriet came to a stop and watched as the kids raced across the street eager to strike the next block. Their voices lively and filled with chatter about which houses are giving away what, especially the houses that were giving away whole candy bars.
Harriet remembered trick or treating back in the day, those were fun days. The days before life got in the way of having fun. Harriet waited for the last fat kid to hustle himself across the street before continuing on. She drove through downtown, it was dark here most of the shops had closed early so they could get home for trick or treaters so their homes wouldn't be covered in toilet paper and broken eggs. With the street populated by only swirling cyclones of brightly coloured falls leaves Harriet was able to pick up speed and made it out of town in short order.

Now began the drive to the Meller Mansion. Harriet drove her car into the stand of trees that divided the town from the mansion. Harriet couldn't help but noticed all the bare branches on the trees with the moonlight filtering through them. They all looked like long gnarled fingers trying to grab her as she passed under them. It was a fun thrill to feel like she was walking into a horror movie.
The drive took awhile for the Meller Mansion was on the far side of the island. Harriet exited the small forest and slowly drove along the rocky cliffs until she came to the turn off. The road was only a ruined dirt track cutting through the forest, and since the last Meller died nobody had kept the road up. Luckily Harriet's Jeep had no difficulty going down the rough road. She drove down the rough road through the thick forest until she came out and there was the Meller Mansion.
It sat perched high up on a cliff that looked out into the brooding ocean. It was old, time hadn't been kind to the building and the wood that was once so bright and vibrant had dulled to an old grey. The roof had large bald spots were the shingles had blown off in one violent storm or another, and many of the windows were broken. It looked like the ultimate haunted house.
Guarding the house from curious teens were two large fences with big locked gates and then the house itself whose doors had been locked for thirty years. Harriet eyed up her opponent, these weren't little cheap locks like people had on boat houses or liquor cabinets there were big heavy duty locks. Harriet pulled up close to the gates and turned her car off. She took a long deep breath and waited.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for Shannon and her friends to arrive. Shannon's Mercedes had a harder time going down the rough road. The girls piled out all dressed in expensive Halloween costumes. " Hey" said Shannon, " ready to get us in?"
" Sure" said Harriet, feeling the icy daggers Jill was staring at her.
Harriet walked over to the first gate and looked at the lock. Harriet didn't like the looks of it, it was new and heavy. Harriet took out her two heaviest picks and went to work. Her work was hampered by the fact that all four girls were leaning over her shoulders watching her work. She hated being watched, it made everything go so slow. " I don't think she can do it" said Jill after five minutes.
" Shut up" said Shannon, " I know she can."
At least she better Shannon thought to herself. Harriet was under serious pressure and was starting to worry when the lock finally clicked. It opened and fell off the gate into the dirt with a heavy thud. " Great!" said Shannon hugging Harriet tight.
" She still has two to go" reminded Charisma.
" No problem" said Harriet, now swelled with confidence, " I'm just thirsty."
She stole Charisma's beer from her hand and drank the entire bottle in one gulp. With the alcohol surging through her she felt much more confident and walked up to the second lock and went straight to work. Now knowing what to expect she had the second lock off and the gate open before the girls could haul their cooler up to her. Harriet stepped through the gate and looked up at the house.
It looked much more fearsome how standing ten feet away than it did from the road. Now every story she'd ever heard about this place was coming back and hitting her mind at light speed. She really wasn't wondering if they were true anymore, looking at this place made them feel true. " One last lock" said Shannon, " go get it."
Shannon kissed Harriet making her pale face flush bright red. She smiled as their lips parted and started up the old porch steps. Shannon made a face and her friends stifled their laughs.
Harriet reached the door and looked at the last lock. She felt an invisible force desperately trying to stop her from opening the door but that kiss from Shannon was more than enough for her to overcome it.
The picks slipped into the door and a great gust of wind came up from the sea and buffeted against the mansion. It let off a long mournful groan as if welcoming the girls to their doom. Harriet turned the picks and the lock crackled, the ancient metal buckling under the force.
The door swung open with a long creak of rusted hinges protesting their movement. Inside was the Meller Mansion, just as it was back in the 70s when the murders occurred. Now everything was covered in a heavy coating of dust and cobwebs, dulled by age and ruined by the army of insects that feared no spirits when in search of an easy meal. Harriet went in first, and looked around the entry. " Fucking A" said Shannon, " you did it."
Shannon was now very sorry she ever doubted or made fun of Harriet. She gave Harriet a big hug and another beer, " You've earned it" she said.
The other girls too had congratulations for Harriet as they went in. They all knew this was going to be the biggest, and coolest Halloween party this little town had ever had. They would be talking about it years after all the girls escaped the island for exciting lives in the fashionable cities of the world. " I'm going to explore some" said Harriet, taking her Mag-Light out of her pocket.
" I'll come with" said Shannon, " I think they can find a place to setup."
" No problem" said Mandy, " I called Bret, he should be coming pretty soon."
" No fucking way, why Bret, god he'll invite fucking Trey" said Shannon, " I am not talking to the prick Trey, you guys want your boyfriend fine, but no fucking way are you inviting Trey."
" Okay, okay" said Jill, " fuck it isn't like we can't invite him, he'd get real suspicious when his best friend goes someplace without him."
" What-ever" said Shannon in fairly dramatic fashion before taking Harriet's arm and leading her into the house.

Harriet and Shannon walked through the entry and looked into the first few rooms. It was a study with a huge bay window that looked out at the ocean, then some sort of sitting room much like the study, a dining room and then a big empty room with lots of bookshelves probably a library. The girls were already setting up the stuff in the study that had the best view. " I bet we can find some cool shit upstairs" said Shannon.
Shannon took a hold of Harriet's hand, a spark of electricity shot through Harriet's body making her smile as Shannon pulled at her up the stairs.

" Look at them go" said Mandy, " she is such a stone cold bitch."
" It isn't like she doesn't deserve it" said Jill, " dyke trash."
" It is too mean" said Charisma, " but that's Shannon."
The girls busied themselves hauling in the last of the party favors and setting everything up in the parlor to the left of the door. After it was all done Jill stepped out for a cigarette, that place looked dangerously unsafe for cigarettes. She lit up and was blowing a big lung full of smoke towards the sky when something caught her eye. She thought she saw someone standing at the far end of the porch just before it wrapped around the house. She turned to see who it was but they were gone. She knew it was just Trey, he'd be sulking about all night like the little loser he was, what Shannon saw in him in the first place was beyond her. Then she remembered, it was the nice car and the expensive clothes, too bad he sucked in bed. Jill hurled her cigarette towards the fence and turned to rejoin the party.

Shannon pushed Harriet against the door and pressed her body tight against her. Their lips locked, their warm tongues gently wrapped together. Harriet was floating on big fluffy clouds, the taste of Shannon's tongue was amazing. Hands were starting to roam around getting closer and closer to the sweet spots.
Harriet smiled broadly as they made out as Shannon gently began to lift Harriet's skirt. This was it, this was going to be the best Halloween ever.
Suddenly there was a blast of a car horn and in an instant Shannon had disappeared from Harriet's embrace. Harriet gathered her sense and realized that Shannon was standing by the window, " It's them!" she exclaimed.
Harriet looked out the window, two more cars had pulled up and a group of guys were climbing out. " Who are they?" she asked.
" My brother and some of his friends" said Shannon, " hm they look so hot."
" What about us?" asked Harriet, feeling stupid the moment the words escaped her lips. They were the words of a needy desperate loser.
Shannon laughed, " Us? That was for getting us in here" she said, " we aren't going out. I'm not a dyke and if I was I would not hang around you."
Shannon pushed past Harriet and ran downstairs leaving Harriet to feel used and stupid all alone in the room.

Shannon raced down the stairs to find her brother had really come through with the college hotties. Shannon and her brother Adam, use to fight like cats and dogs then Adam left for Cooper River University, which in truth was a junior college for rich children who had bad grades, and he became cool. Not really him but all the buff guys he hung around. He'd scored good tonight, there where 5 solid hotties, a couple of chicks, and one nerd with a video camera. All in all he'd done well. " Hey Adam" said Shannon eyeing up her prize, " thanks."
" No prob" said Adam, the older he got the more singular his vocabulary became, " dudes this my sis Shannon and her friends. Girls my buds: Rick, Henri, Paul, Rob and Ryan, and Tyler."
After a few hellos between them Shannon sauntered over to the hottest dude there, " Hey" she said in her sexiest voice, " I'm Shannon."
The guy looked at her breast, he went right past her face, " Rick" he said.
" See something you like?" asked Shannon gently squeezing her shoulders to make her breasts puff out a bit more.
" Maybe" he said.
" Well it's all yours if you do" she said, batting her eyelashes, " any way you want it."
Rick started to grin, he bravely reached out and had himself a free feel in front of everybody. " I like" he said in typical dude fashion, " you rock."
" What the fuck?" shouted the girl who came with the guys.
Rick looked over, " Shut up" he said, " you wanted an open relationship, I'm not married to you."
" Asshole" snapped Chasey, Rick's kinda girlfriend.
Rick turned back, " Forget her" he said.
" No prob" said Shannon, groping Rick's crotch just to piss her off.
Rick was leading Shannon towards the stairs greedily feeling her up when a hurt voice crack, " Shannon."
Shannon closed her eyes, she knew this was going to happen. She turned around and saw Tyler, her ex-ex-ex-so incredibly ex-boyfriend standing in the doorway with his big sad eyes, his buddy Bret standing behind him carrying two cases of beer. " Trey it is so over" said Shannon, " you couldn't get it done."
" Slut!" shouted Trey.
" Lick me" said Shannon, " oh wait you never did. Go chase some of your locker room buddies, you like them more than me."
Shannon walked up the stairs laughing at Trey. Trey looked over at the other pissed member of the party who was busily smoking a cigarette. He took a step towards her and she gave him an icy stare that told him in no uncertain terms to fuck off.
Trey looked over at Jill whom he cheated with once before. " Forget it" said Jill, " I don't pick up Shannon's leftovers, you are a loser."
Trey stormed out and with his pathetic present evaporated from the house the party began.

Trey kicked the backdoor open as he stormed out. " Fucking Bitch!" he shouted angrily at the house.
Trey fumed as he lit up a cigarette, he was going to show those bitches, fucking bitches aren't good for anything. Trey turned and saw another guy, " You another fucking college boy?" he asked.
The guy didn't reply, " Fuck you too" said Trey flicking his cigarette at the guy.
Trey turned to leave, he was going to spoil this fucking party for good. He took his cell phone out and dialed 9-1-1.
Trey was listening to the ring when he felt a hot sting. The knife went in clean in the sweet spot at the base of the skull. It was a large hunting knife and the force which he pushed it in drove the sharpened blade through his head until the blade pushed out in his mouth. Trey never even knew what happened. He took the cell phone from Trey's hand and gently turned it off as the operator continued to say hello. He slowly drew the blade out and slung Trey over his shoulder.
He had to move quickly, there was much to do and the night was wearing on. He gently set number 1 against the side of the house making sure that the entrance to the cellar obscured the view of his body. He looked through one of the windows and saw two more, they were on the couch. The girl was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, now wearing only her cloak and boots, the boy in a letterman jacket from some college. He smiled as they had sex, their energy would be so ripe. He cleaned his blade off on his tongue, so ripe and such a fine place to consume it. He could feel the evil, it oozed from the walls, it was calling for him to fill it up once again with hot blood.

Shannon completely blew Harriet off for the rest of the night. It was like she was rubbing Harriet's nose in the fact that that it was all she would ever get from her. She made it a point to take Rick past Harriet as he greedily felt her up to drive the point home. Harriet was crushed, she felt beyond horrible, she was nothing to them. That bitch Shannon had used her. Harriet stormed for the front door, this was their fucking party let them have it. Harriet grabbed the handle and found it was jammed shut. Leave it to frat boys to fuck anything up she thought. She grabbed another beer and slammed it as fast as she could to dull the bitter burning pain that had eaten her soul raw. She made her way through the house, hurling the empty bottle at a random wall in disgust before leaving the house through the kitchen door.
The night was sharp and cold, the tears that were rolling down Harriet's cheeks stung as the wind struck her face. Harriet stared up at the glittering stars and wished that one of them would fall from the sky and crush her. All she wanted was for something to snuff her life out, she was a pathetic nobody that nobody even bothered to hate let alone be friendly with. All she wanted was a chance but was never going to get a fair shake in this town. Harriet just wanted it all to end, she wasn't worth the effort of going on.

He stopped short of slashing the goth's throat when he heard something. It was distant but it was a siren. He disappeared into the shadows and let the goth brood. He hurried around the side of the house and hurried towards the sound. They couldn't find out yet, it would ruin the beauty of the night.

Officers Daniels and Lehman were navigating through the woods heading towards the house. " Damn kids" cursed Officer Daniels, " what the hell are they doing out here?"
" Didn't you ever hear the ghost stories about this place?" asked Officer Lehman, " it is Halloween after all."
" Fuck that" said Officer Daniels, " there are no such things as ghosts or Jason fucking Voorhees. These little bastards are in for a world of trouble when I get to them."
" Take it easy" said Lehman, " it wasn't like they were the ones that made Sarah break up with you, last thing you need is to have the boss chewing on your ass again."
Daniels grumbled in response and was about to start ranting about the privileged snotty teens of the town when suddenly there was a loud bang that made both men jump in fright.
The police car started to pull hard to the left as Lehman slowly came to a stop. " Fuck" said Lehman, " for a second there I thought Jason Voorhees was attacking us."
" Yah" said Daniels, laughing his troubles away, " rock, paper, scissors?"
" Sure."
They played and Daniels lost. He climbed out of the car and headed to the back of the police cruiser and popped the trunk. He reached in for the jack when he felt something come up behind him. The blade grabbed across his throat before he was violently smashed against the back of the car.
Lehman heard the thump and climbed out wondering what was going on. He walked around back and saw Daniels leaning into the trunk. " Can't find the jack?" he asked.
Lehman grabbed Daniels' shoulder and gave it a short shake. Lehman felt something wet and pulled his hand back. He saw blood, he reached for his radio when the tire iron smashed into his skull. He dropped to the ground and began to convulse, a strange gurgle escaped his lips as he looked up at the monster standing over him.

Two more whacks and the pig was silent, he was unhappy the damn pigs would make his job so much harder. He would have to do this fast and silent, this night had started out with so much promise but it was unraveling too fast. He picked up the two pigs, one by one and deposited them in the back of their squad car. He turned off the engine and the lights. Their black uniforms would make it harder for anyone to see them in the back. He tossed the tire iron on them and slammed the door. He wasn't about to let tonight be ruined.

The party was starting to cool down, after only a half an hour of socializing the partiers had started to divide up to go into separate parts of the house to work off some of the excitement they felt for being inside this haunted house. Everybody wanted to see something but as the night worn on they became less and less interested in seeing something supernatural as in seeing something naked.

The last remaining members of the party were standing around in the study each looking at their beers and realizing there was nothing to eat. Beer on an empty stomach would make for a crappy party. " We're going to score some pizzas man" said Henri, " who all interested?"
" Count me in" said Tyler, " Jess too."
" I'm just going to hang here" said Cammy, Henri's latest townie squeeze, " I'm on a diet."
" Nah man" said Bret, trying to act all cool and old, " I'm good."
" All right" said Henri, " we'll be back."
Nobody else answered, they had all gone into various far ends of the house to have fun. They too found the front door was jammed and decided they were in too much of a hurry to simply just go out back. Tyler hefted a footstool and simply chucked it through one of the windows creating an easy exit. The trio left and hopped into Henri's truck. They drove into the woods.
They had been driving no more than ten minutes when Henri stopped the truck. " What?" asked Tyler.
" Fuck it's the cops" said Henri.
Through the bare trees they could see the bright white of the police car. " Are they just parked?" asked Jessi.
" Dunno man" said Tyler, " there another road?"
" You see one?" asked Henri panic going in his voice, " oh man if I get arrest so goodbye to my scholarship, oh man this fucking sucks."
" Hold it" said Jessi, " I don't see anybody, pull over let's go have a look, maybe their broke down or something."
" Dunno man" said Tyler.
" Let's just see" said Henri, " maybe giving them a hand will make them forget out where they found us."
The trio climbed out of the truck and headed over to see what was up. They rounded the bend and saw the cop car. They saw the front flat tire and the open trunk. Tyler walked around and looked inside the trunk. " Stupid cops don't have a jack" he laughed.
In the near darkness Tyler didn't notice that he was standing in a thick pool of blood, nor did any of them see the two dead cops laying in the back of the squad car. " They must have walked back to the road" said Henri, " not like cell phones work out here."
" Yah, must have" said Tyler.

He watched them from the shadow of a large elm tree, they weren't in the house but their energy was strong enough. He slowly removed his knife and readied himself.

" Ah guys" said Jessi, " look at this."
She held up a piece of wood with eight nails driven through it. " I think it was planted here" she said.
" Nah" said Tyler, " probably fell off somebody truck or blew off that creaky old house."
" Look at it dumbass" said Jessi, " you think anybody puts this many nails into a little piece of wood?"
Before Tyler could think up an explanation Jessi screamed as a hideous figure lunged out of the woods and stabbed Tyler. Tyler spun around to try and fight the monster but another quick stab with the knife and he was down. Henri rushed to help his friend but was stopped when he smashed Henri's face with the knuckle guard on his large wicked blade. Jessi turned and ran for the truck not wanting to see Henri get finished off. She sprinted as fast as her awkward heels allowed her. She had almost reached the truck when the reality hit her, Tyler had the keys. She looked over her shoulder and saw he was coming and coming up fast.
Jessi stumbled and hit the ground, she backed herself up until she was pressed up against the big tire of the truck. " Please don't" she begged, fishing desperately in her purse, " I'll pay, I've got cash."
Jessi threw her cash and credit cards between her and the hulking monster. He took a step forward driving the money into the mud. Jessi pulled her top down exposing her breasts to him. " We can do it" begged Jessi, becoming more and more panicked, " I'll never tell, please."
He leaned over and looked her square in the eyes. Jessi put on her best smile and tried to look pretty although her mascara was already running down her cheeks in thick gooey rivers.
His hand shot out and grabbed her neck hard. He stood up, dragging the thrashing girl with him. He grinned as his hand slowly constricted. He listened as the cartilage slowly crumpled and Jessi became still. He threw her into the bed of the truck and turned around. He scooped the money out of the mud and slipped it into his pocket before gathering the other two up and tossing them with her into the truck.

" Good, good" said Cammy, letting Bret having her from behind, " yah stud."
Bret felt so cool, he knew this cologne was a real killer. He was grinning like a goofball and they were making so much noise neither heard or saw his approach. He climbed in through the same broken window. He unsheathed his knife and buried it into the guy's head.
" Dude" said Cammy feeling something wet splatter on her back, " you spill your beer?"
She turned around and her eyes grew wide just before the knife was dragged across his throat.

He carefully placed them in a quiet corner of the room, and crossed the study and closed the door before driving his massive shoulder into the door jamming it closed. The hunt was now on.

Charisma wiped her mouth before lighting up another joint. " This is good shit" she commented, " you guys know where to score."
Adam grinned, he had the biggest crush on Charisma for years. He had the crush for years ever since Charisma started hanging out with his sister. He had finally scored with her, god it was good. Charisma sat up and found her underwear. " Hey, whoa" Adam said, " we just started."
" But, normally guys don't last" said Charisma.
Adam grinned and fished out his prescription bottle, " The blue diamond baby" he said, " miracle of science, I've done three I'm ready to go until dawn."

Paul was hiding in the closet video taping Adam and the high school chick. Paul's pants were unzipped, he had a hard time around girls, it was impossible for him, but this was a good enough substitute and every once and awhile Adam let him have the leftovers. Adam loved having his conquests taped, he really got off on it. Paul would never have been invited to this party if he wasn't Adam's private movie studio.
Paul heard his cell phone beep and scrambled to dig it out. " Go check on 2xR" was the text message Adam just sent him.
Paul looked through the crack in the closet and saw that Adam was texting while he was going the girl, dude he was so cool. 2xR meant the twins, Rob and Ryan, Adam was probably going to get extra kinky with her and didn't want it on tape. Paul texted back, K. He carefully slipped out of the closet and under the cover of a few loud cursed words from Adam.

Paul snuck out into the hallway and it didn't take long to find Rob and Ryan. Rob and Ryan were twins that were nearly opposites. Rob was studious, smart and quiet, not like Paul who was a nerd, Rob was an athletic scholar who despite being able to read and write still played football in college. Ryan was the ultimate party animal, anywhere, anytime Ryan was ready to party and party hard. They were on either side of one of the high school girls, the one dressed like a nurse, and where leading her down the hallway totting a full case of beer. Paul luckily managed to figure out which room they were going for and went into the next room. There were a set of doors that connected these two rooms, like the doors you find in motels that link rooms to each other. Paul managed to squeeze himself in between the two doors and stick his camera lens against the crack just enough to capture the three of them perfectly.

Ryan and Rob watched as Mandy power slammed another beer before their eyes. " Fuck yah" Mandy howled hurling the bottle across the room before it exploded in a shower of little pieces of glass.
" Damn" said Rob, " I'm too fucked up, I'm out."
" Pussy" said Ryan, pushing his brother, " you're letting a high school girl show you up."
" Damn it man" said Rob, " I didn't have anything to eat tonight, you gotta cut me some slack."
" Puss" said Ryan.
Rob stumbled away trying to get to the door. He weaved in wide arcs trying to make it. He reached the wall and slowly felt his way across the wall for the door. He fumbled with the knob, the fumbling became more and more desperate as he felt vomit rising in his stomach. He finally turned the knob and the knife blade ripped his throat open. A hand grabbed his neck and jerked him away from the open door. He opened the next closest door and hurled the body in. He froze as he listened to the body smashing down a flight of stairs into the basement. It sounded like an elephant. He snarled, the screaming would start, he just knew it. He waited for many minutes but all her heard was laughter from the others in the room, they must have assumed their friend fell and nothing more. He smiled his black evil smile as he licked his blade clean.

Harriet opened another beer as she tossed the third across the yard watching is barely missed the down tree trunk. " Fuck it" she muttered leaning back against the house.
Harriet had discovered an unopened case of beer and found that after three beers she didn't feel like a used hated bitch anymore. After three more she actually stopped caring. She hoped by the end of the case she would forget everything she and Shannon had done together.

Rick arched his back and howled, "Fuck yah! Rick!"
Shannon smiled at him, " Touchdown baby, touchdown."
Rick grabbed his beer and drained it, " Hey baby, I gotta piss" he said, " before I get back why don't you rustle up a playmate for us. Like that hot chick dressed as a goth I saw. Hmmmm, she looks like fun."
" She isn't dressed like a goth, she is a goth" said Shannon as if that would automatically exclude her from Rick's menu.
" Shit, that is no problem" said Rick, " goths kick ass, the tatts and the crazy sex. Man the three of us could make this a Halloween to remember."
" Okay, I'll see what I can do" said Shannon, having no intention to share Rick with anybody else.
Rick got up and tugged his jeans on, " I'll be back" he said.

Rick stumbled across the hall and went into the bathroom. He stood in front of the long dry toilet trying to urinate. Rick groaned as he began to urinate into the toilet. He tipped his head back, high school girls were always the best, so stupid and uncomplicated. They just wanted the fuck, they were happy with the fuck. Rick was now more pissed at Chasey than before. That bitch was going to get a fucking ear full on the ride home, when they got home he was going to teach her what humiliating him would get her.
The knife went in, slicing through the soft canal of Rick's ear and jamming deep in his brain. Rick's muscular frame twitched and shook, it was over even before his booze addled brain had registered somebody else was in the room. The knife was slowly drawn out, Rick collapsing into the bathtub, his skull cracking against the porcelain. He grinned as the crack echoed in the tight bathroom, the perfect sound, like cracking an egg against the frying pan.

Jill licked Chasey's nose, " That was fun" she said.
" I agree" said Chasey, " we don't need boys to have fun, just a little X can make anything fun."
Jill got up and squeezed back into her costume, " If you see Rick" said Chasey, " tell him what we did, the little prick will shit himself that he missed out."
" I will" said Jill, after I get a piece of him she thought.
Jill sauntered out of the room and turned the corner.
It struck, fast and merciless, the hand clamped down hard on her jaw. There was a soft crackle of teeth as the grip tightened. Then a flash of cold emotionless steel, a soft wet rip of the throat and then a thump as Jill's lifeless body hit the ground.

Chasey was having a cigarette in bed when he entered. " Hello handsome" she said, " you one of Rick's buddies?"
He nodded, his eyes greedily eating every inch of her up. " I love the whole Michael Myers costume, you just need the mask" she said, " come on Mikey, I'm a horny bad girl who wants your big knife thrust into her over and over."
He grinned and walked to the bed. " Hm, you look like a big boy" she said, " let me kiss him hello."
When he got close enough he pulled the knife out and began to thrust it into Chasey over and over. She tried to scream, her mouth opened but nothing but wet gurgles came out. He straddled her on the bed and continued to strike. The blade dipped deeper and deeper into her, throwing blood all over the room. He stopped, long strings of blood dripping from his face. He took in a deep breath and felt the power surge through him, he slashed her face a few times as he relished the high. He would have liked to continue with her, she had made him extra high but there was still many in the house he had to deal with.

Mandy and Ryan were busy doing lines of cocaine off each other's body. Ryan had scored some great stuff and had been hiding it, especially from his brother who would no doubt want some. He didn't want to share, this stuff cost him plenty. He would give it to Mandy, she had no problem trading for something else he wanted more than coke.

Paul held his breath, he zoomed in on the white line on Mandy's breast and watched Ryan snort it off. Adam would love this. Adam always bitched Ryan, the group's connection, held out the best stuff. Paul was so consumed with his viewfinder he didn't notice the large black figure entering the room.
Paul only noticed when the girl screamed just seconds before the attack filled his viewfinder. It was fast and vicious. Paul, a veteran of every violent video game made, loosed his bowels as he watched the man attack Ryan, even the diffusing factor of watching the carnage through the viewfinder hadn't lessened the horror. He clamped his hand over his mouth as he watched Ryan being stabbed repeatedly. He didn't dare make a sound, the girl he was with, Mandy, had screamed and he had hit her. Paul knew he was no match for this monster and was going to stay as silent as possible, his only hope. He didn't even like Ryan, he wasn't going to play hero for him or that cheap townie trash.

Shannon sat up, wondering why it was taking Rick so long to piss. She got up and slid into her dress leaving the boa and her underwear on the floor. She sauntered into the hall. She heard the scream then, it didn't want her at all concerned, everybody was screwing or getting shitfaced or somebody spooked somebody. Shannon stumbled around the corner and looked into the bathroom where her scream joined Mandy's scream in shattering the peaceful silence of the house.

Charisma leapt off Adam when they heard the screams, both knew it was no scream of pleasure, no one screamed like that unless they were looking into death's eye black eyes.
They scrambled into whatever clothes they could find and rushed out into the hall. At the far end they saw Mandy, she was covered in blood, her white nurse uniform now totally red. Charisma began to scream when she realized the blood was leaking from Mandy, her best friend. Mandy stumbled a few more steps as blood dripped from her clenched lips before falling flat on the ground.
The pair raced to her side as Charisma screamed and shouted Mandy's name Adam saw the figure in the doorway. " Jesus fuck!" he screamed, " we have to run."
" No" wailed Charisma, " not without Mandy."
Adam pulled at her, but Charisma wouldn't budge. She gently rolled Mandy over and let the blood gush from her slack lips. " Sorry Mand" she said, gently moving her hair from her face, " looks like we ruined your hair. I'll fix it for you."
" Fine, fuck you fruitcake" said Adam taking off running.

He watched the guy run leaving the girl to cradle the head of her head friend as she gently redid her hair muttering to herself. He walked past her and took a hold of her head, it was no sport to kill those who couldn't defend themselves and she was clearly gone, so gone she didn't even notice his hands on her head. There was no fear in her, no energy to consume, but she had to go just like the rest. He did it quick, and clean. Just a twist, then the crackle, the same sound breaking fresh celery made. He dropped her over her friend and went after Adam.

Paul stood frozen in the doorway, he couldn't believe what he just saw. He had caught it all on tape but at that moment he didn't even know that he had. He had just watched a phantom kill both Rob and Mandy. He clutched his camera and bravely pushed the door open. He stepped out of the puddle of his own urine and stumbled in the opposite direction. Forget screaming or trying to tell anyone else, all he cared about was finding someplace safer to hide.

Harriet looked over shoulder at the open kitchen door. There was a lot of really weird screaming going on inside. It didn't sound like the usual party noises. She got up, the beer wasn't doing the trick anyways all she was feeling was woozy and a little sick to her stomach. She decided to go have a look around to satisfy her curiosity and then she was going to break and window and leave, go home and drink that bottle of wine she'd stolen from her folks, that would get her drunk enough to forget.

Harriet walked into the house, it was eerily silent, the only sound was the long lonesome groan of the ancient house as the wind assaulted it aging sides. Harriet slowly made her way from the kitchen into the entry were she was expecting a party to be in full swing but didn't find anyone. She began to get worried, not that they had ditched her but of something more supernatural.
She'd heard all the stories, she probably heard them all and then a few more. None of them were pleasant, but most of them to her had been just so many urban legends, a desperate attempt to make living in this horribly dull city a little bit exciting, but now being in the very belly of the beast the stories seemed to be so incredibly real to her. She began to worry that the house had made someone go crazy or worse had swallowed them all up and was saving Harriet for last. Harriet wanted to laugh at that thought, again she was picked last but right now nothing was funny.
Harriet tried the front door again but found it still jammed. She was about to make her own way out by breaking a window when she heard something thump upstairs. She spun around, her heart skipping a beat and a half. She was expecting to see a head rolling down those long carpeted steps but didn't see anything. She was starting to get that feeling that this was all some kind of practical joke, it wasn't funny but Halloween was the time for pranks. Harriet decided to go upstairs and let them have their fun, and then she was going to kick somebody's ass.

Harriet made her way up the stairs and went looking for anyone. Room after room, hallway after hallway she was having a hard time finding anyone. She found stains on the carpet, vomit, spilled beer or wine or bong water in a few spots but nobody. Harriet was really starting to worry when she heard the flap of bare feet racing down the hall. She turned the corner and was hit by Shannon as she raced down the hall. She hit with enough force to knock both of them off their feet and crashing down into a pile on the floor. " Fucking funny" said Harriet.
" No, no, run, run" babbled Shannon, " Rick... he... we... bathroom... he... not me... nobody else... we... me... last."
Harriet was confused by Shannon's babbling, Harriet had seen people do drugs and done enough herself to know what you sounded like when stoned but Shannon just sounded plan crazy. " We... get out... before... Rick... me... sex" she continued to babble.
Harriet pulled herself free of the tangle of Shannon's limbs and slapped her as hard as her drunk limbs could.

Wow that felt amazingly good, thought Harriet, should have done that before. " What is going on?" asked Harriet sternly.
Shannon held up her hands and showed that both palms were completely covered in blood. " BLOOD!!!" she screamed.
Harriet knew it was time to fly, this place had gotten way to fucking weird. She grabbed Shannon's hand, even after all of this she still couldn't just leave her. She hauled her to her feet, " We're leaving" she said.
Shannon bobbed her head up and down and they started to zigzag their way back to the main stairs. They were halfway there when Shannon suddenly stopped and shouted, " Adam!"
Harriet turned and saw Adam stumbling towards her. " What is going on?" asked Harriet.
Adam shook his head, it looked like blood was running down the side of his face. " Adam" snapped Harriet, " what the fuck is going on?"
Adam looked up, part of his forehead was caved in and one of his eye balls was dangling out. " He's here" he mumbled before dropping dead at their feet.
Harriet stared at the body, the entire world just stopped for her, the clouds of booze induced fuzzy haze cleared faster than a summer storm leaving her with stark cold reality. She'd never seen a real dead body before. She watched hundreds of movies, movies that had body counts into the triple digits and never once did it affect her. But now the sight of this one body, his back covered in bloody stab wounds looked so incredibly surreal. It looked like the worse special effects job ever, it just didn't look real at all. Harriet forced herself to look away, breaking the corpses trance over her, and started to run again. She was forced to drag Shannon the first few steps and then slowly she started to stumble and then finally began to run.

Harriet and Shannon ran desperately for the stairs and the front door. Both knew the front door was jammed but at the moment were so terrified they were acting on pure instinct. They raced down the stairs and saw the front door was now wide open. They ran for all they were worth but before they could escape this house of horrors He appeared. Shannon reacted, grabbed Harriet by the arms and throwing her at him with all the strength pure terror could supply her with. Harriet screamed as she hurtled towards the killer, his bright blade still dripping with gore. She hit the side of door instead, bouncing back just dodging his clutches. Shannon turned and raced back up the stairs. Harriet stumbled, blood dripping from her nose and turned to run herself.
He reached out with his bloody hand to grab a hold of her. She thought she had slipped his grasp until he grabbed one of her long pigtails. She pulled and he pulled and there was a loud ripping followed by Harriet screaming as the hair was ripped from her scalp.
Harriet sprinted, the pain and the booze making the entire mansion spin like a top. Harriet hit a doorway, and bounced into a room. She hit the floor and kicked the door closed. She grabbed a chair and wedged it under the handle. Instead of waiting to see how long it would take for this monster to break through she kept running. Harriet ran up a side staircase and finally came to a stop in a small room. She closed the door and turned the lock.
Harriet fell into the corner and began to sob. She couldn't stop crying, she had never felt so sure of anything in her life and that was her death. She felt the icy grip, it felt so intense she just wanted it over with now.

Shannon kept running, her bare feet slapping on the stairs as she climbed. She didn't care about Harriet or if she was alive or dead, now it was all about her surviving. She turned and something caught her foot. Shannon hit the ground and screamed as a loud cracking echoed through the hall. She look and saw Jill dead body, her throat cut open. Shannon had caught her foot in Jill's dress and now two bright shiny bones were sticking out of opposite sides of her calf. Shannon heard the heavy footsteps and desperately tried to pull her leg from Jill's dress. At first Jill wouldn't give the leg back so Shannon began to kick Jill in the face to make her release her leg. Finally her leg came free and she was able to escape. She started to drag herself down the hall, her left leg pointed out at a bizarre angle. The footsteps kept drawing nearer and nearer like the long rolls of thunder coming in from the ocean. She dragged herself across the hall into the first open door she found and closed it behind her. She grabbed the knob and pulled herself up to turn the lock.
Her fingers clasped the small brass lock and she turned it with a satisfying click. Before she could celebrate she felt a burning pain in her hand. She screamed as the knife blade pushed through her hand from the other side of the door. Shannon pulled back, falling with all her weigh, although only 104 pounds on her broken leg. She howled, tears pouring from her eyes. Shannon watched in terror as the blade slowly turned and the cheap lock slowly followed it.
He entered the room, a twisted smile on his face. Shannon screamed again, desperately trying to crawl away. He seemed to take pleasure in watching her struggle, he took pleasure in the chase and this one had some fight in her. He slowly walked into the room and watched as she desperately clawed at the window. He slowly turned his knife around and around letting the moonlight glint on the blade.
Shannon screamed as he grabbed a big handful of her styled hair. He pulled her back, the curve of her throat was perfect for his blade. She was made to be his. The knife glided over her, Shannon squeaked and then began to gurgle. She continued to struggle as her red life blood splattered on the window. She reached out for the window one last time before going limp in his arms. He let her drop to the floor and slowly licked his knife clean. She was a tasty one, very tasty.
After a few moments of watching her blood decorate the bare wooden floor he picked her up. She would be the center piece, she belonged there.

Harriet stay in the room for a long time, it was no more than twenty minutes but it felt like an eternity to her. She hadn't heard a scream in awhile, the only sound she heard aside from the blood pumping through her ears was the wind blowing against the old house making it groan like a murder victim too. She knew she had to move, she had to try and escape. Harriet slowly opened the door and looked into the hallways. She didn't see anyone, she didn't expect to see this freak waiting for her but had stopped believing in the expected awhile ago. She carefully crept into the hall, her boots sounded like thunder on the old wooden floor. She regretted wearing them but wasn't ready to take them off, they were big and heavy they could do some damaged if it came to that.
As Harriet made her way down the hall she found the rug, no matter how threadbare still muffled the sound. She felt a minor sense of relief fill her as she continued down the hall, it wasn't much but it was the first time she felt good in hours. She slowly came to the end of the hall, she wanted to find a window, she was rather versed in climbing out of them, but she needed to find one that could open. She went for the first door at the end of the hall.
She walked into the room and something rushed at her from the shadows. She felt the footstool smash into her hand; a hot stinging pain arced from her fingers up her arm and straight into her brain sending a bright flash of white light across her eyes. Thankfully Harriet had enough sense to use her big boot, she kicked hard. She felt the toe of the boot smash into a leg, a weak whimper and then a thump. She stumbled back, her vision slowly returning and adjusting to the darkness of the room. She saw a figure, too thin to be the freak on the ground holding his leg, judging by the short wet draws of breath he was trying not to cry. She closed the door and turned her Mag-Light on.
On the ground was one of the college guys who arrived, he was the ass with the camera, Paul something or another. " What are you doing" he whimpered, " you are going to lead him to us, that fucker will hear you."
" You how him?" she asked.
" Of him" he said, holding his camcorder like it was a ward against this freak.
" Who the hell is he?" asked Harriet.
" Not so loud" he hissed, " he'll hear you."
" Who is he?" whispered Harriet, letting her maternal instincts take over.
Paul wiped his nose and sat with his legs close to his chest, " His name is Michael Jaeger" he said starting to rock back and forth, " he is some weird serial killer from New York. He is supposed to have killed like 20 people before he disappeared. The FBI has like a million dollar reward for his capture out there."
" But why is he here?" asked Harriet.
" Got me, maybe he is got a Michael Myers thing going for him. He kills teens who have sex" he said, " at least I know I'll make it. God first time I ever thought I'd be happy to be a virgin."
Harriet had heard enough, he was just being plain fucking nuts, and went to the window. " It's no use" he said, not looking at the window, " its nailed shut."
Harriet looked down at the window and saw the old rusty nails securely in the frame. She also noticed her three fingers she'd blocked the stool with were a deep crimson red and starting to swell. She knew they were broken but she was starting to think this wasn't the worst she would suffer. " So where do we go?" asked Harriet.
" I'm not going anywhere" he said, " just gotta wait til dawn, he will take off by then. The cops will find this place and he'll have to get off the island so he'll leave by dawn."
Harriet shook her head, if she still had two good hands she slap him. " And we're just suppose to wait and hope he doesn't come down this hallway?" asked Harriet, " we have to get out of here. He had no problem killing everybody else. Shit it is like he can smell us out or something."
" Maybe he can" said Paul, his rocking becoming more and more pronounced.
" What do you mean?" asked Harriet.
" I read weird things about him on the Internet" he said, " shit you wouldn't believe."
" Try me" said Harriet, playing with the remains of her left pig tail.
Paul shook his head, " No, enough I don't want to talk anymore" he said.
Harriet didn't want to talk anymore either, she just wanted to get the fuck out of this house, she didn't care if this Michael Jaeger was Michael Myers, the evil twin of Superman or the Devil in the flesh. She had to get out.

Harriet carefully crept out of the room and looked down the hall that ran away from her, she didn't see anything but she was more than prepared to believe this guy could be invisible if he wished. She took a breath and hoped to whatever god that was up there to give her enough luck to get out of this alive. She carefully crept from the room, making sure to close the door behind her and give Paul a fighting chance. She didn't want to chance the main stairs, no way he'd be expecting that, she didn't want to go back the way she came, those stairs wouldn't safe either. She hoped this house would have one more set of stairs or a window with large panes she could break and climb out of, anything to let her out. She was even considering just trying to hack through the wall to the outside and taking her chances just jumping to the ground.

She found another set of stairs, they were squirreled away in the back but that was perfect, he hopefully had found these yet. But it was pitch black at the bottom of them. Harriet stopped cold and looked at the darkness below her. Her instincts were telling her to charge, but her rational mind was showing her image after image of every slasher from every movie she'd ever seen hacking her up into little bits that the very bottom of the stairs.
Harriet took a breath, she knew staying put would mean death, but going down these stairs could be death, a real rock and hard place. Finally her instincts took over and she started down the steps, slowly and cautiously, one by one until she had reached the bottom. She was in some sort of storage area, she could see light spilling from underneath a closed door across from the stairs. She gently pushed the door open and could see a straight shot to the dining room. She knew the dining room was real close to the front doors. Her spirits lifted as she started down the small hallway towards the dining room. She wouldn't let her excitement get the better of her and carefully took her time edging down the hallway. She slowly emerged into the dining room and felt her spirit being crushed by a million heavy boulders.

They were all there, sitting at the dining room table. Laying in the center of the table was Shannon, totally naked, the centerpiece to this fucked up feast. Her head lay to one side staring out into the hallway, straight at Harriet. Harriet began to cry, she didn't know why but the well spring opened and she found herself unable to stop. She looked into Shannon's empty eyes and sobbed. She may have hated Shannon but she couldn't get past how in love she had been with her.
Harriet wiped the tears away and summoned the last reserves of courage in her exhausted body and started across the dining room. The stench was intense and Harriet soon found herself getting light headed. She managed to round the table, Adam's ravaged corpse sat close to her, his hand dangled from his wrist, the fingers almost seemed to be reaching out for her. She was nearly out of the dining room when something black rushed at her from within the dining room.

Michael shoved hard and slammed Harriet hard into the wall crackling the plaster and throwing up a great cloud of dust. She dropped limp, blood leaking from her hair. He grabbed her by the throat and tossed her into the middle of the entry. Harriet hit limp, her arms flapped and she rolled onto her side. Michael sheathed his knife and walked over, his footsteps booming on the dry wooden floor.
He rolled her onto her back and looked into her fluttering eyes to make sure she wasn't dead, dead girls didn't appeal to him. He ripped her shirt off and cut her bra open, making sure to slice through her skin as he did. He relished in hearing her weak whimper echoing in the room.
Harriet couldn't think straight, her head was whirling, around and around so fast that everything was passing by in a blur of fear and pain. She vainly tried to struggle but everything seemed to be delayed. Michael seemed very pleased by her feeble attempts and was chuckling in a low dreadful tone. " I've killed all the rest, and now I have you" he whispered.
Harriet felt her panties slowly slip down her trembling thighs. She tried to struggle harder, this couldn't be happening, she wouldn't let it happen. She swept across the filthy floor praying to find anything to use as a weapon as he started to part her thighs.
There she found her keys, they had fallen out of her pocket during the attack. She grabbed them and lashed out. She found her mark, the keys striking the side of Michael's face. She felt a strange pop before being squirted with a hot liquid and hearing Michael howl in pain. Her house key had been driven through his eye. Michael stabbed and slashed, Harriet gurgled in pain but kept striking with her keys. He stumbled back and she got to her feet and ran.

Harriet barely remembered much else, from the concussion and the blood loss these events began to melt together into a strange mixture of blood, the bodies of the others, Shannon's body on the table fucked up center piece to all this hell, stumbling, tripping, bleeding, and finally falling through the open door face first into the ground with the sounds of sirens filling her ears. It was then all of this turned into a strange black abyss in her mind. She had no memory until a few minutes ago.

Steve opened the flimsy hospital gown and licked his lips at the prize. He grabbed two big handfuls, so pleased to discover they were all real. He took her necklace from the table and put it on making himself smiled. He parted her legs and started to open his pants.
The world came rushing back to Harriet to see a fat greasy pig opening his pants. She simply reacted, she spun on the bed her knee reached for his head. Her knee impacted into Steve's wagging mouth, clamping down hard on his drooling tongue. He let off a muffled scream as blood squirted from his mouth. He stumbled back as Harriet rolled out of bed. Her body wasn't working as good as it use to but her attacker was too busy trying to keep his nearly severed tongue in his mouth to strike at her. Harriet kicked him as hard as she could square in the crotch dropping him to his knees. She pounced on him, her instinct to survive now in full control, she couldn't differentiate him from Michael Jaeger and at that moment she didn't care.
Steve was knocked back against the wall when the hellcat leapt at him. Steve was never in good shape, and now with his crotch shooting arcs of white hot electricity through his body and blood filling his mouth he was totally defenseless. She took him down to the linoleum floor. He slammed into the floor hard, all the air in his lungs rushing out of his mouth along with his mouthful of blood. She grabbed his ears, her nails slowly ripping his ears from his skull as she readied to smash his face into the floor.
Luckily for Steve when Harriet leapt from the bed she had pulled ever monitoring instrument off her body alerting the nurses and the doctors in the ICU. They all came rushing in and managed to peel Harriet off Steve before she could crush his skull into the floor. He would later admit to seventeen rapes while working at the hospital that is after the twenty eight stitches it took to keep his tongue in his mouth. He preferred prison to running the chance of meeting that hellcat ever again.

During the next two weeks Harriet began to wish that Michael Jaeger had killed her. She was questioned first by the county sheriff who believed that she was somehow involved in the killings because she didn't belong with the others and her being there was suspicious. Then she was interviewed by the state police, finding seventeen bodies at one time was causing quiet the national stir. Harriet told the same story she told the sheriff, the state police seemed more interested in Michael Jaeger than her, but then came the FBI and the dark storm clouds surrounded Harriet like a summer storm sweeping in from the sea.
It was the FBI who gave her the most trouble. They treated her as if she was the real killer. They had guards in the room at all times, leering as she bathed and the nurses changed her bandages. Harriet knew they were gathering up enough evidence to charge her with the entire thing. It was just another thing that made Harriet increasingly depressed and moody. The only thing that kept her alive in those weeks was the burning urge to finish what she and Michael had started in the Meller Mansion. She didn't know why, the logical side of her brain told her to count her blessings that she survived at all, but there was something deep inside her, a calling, that urged her on to continue their fight. It made no sense of Harriet, she wasn't a great warrior, or even a good fighter but she kept thinking about their fight, seventeen people weren't able to stop him, yet she somehow managed to. That little voice deep inside her head told her only she could stop him and she believed it.

Finally after two weeks Michael Jaeger struck again killing a couple in a wayside rest stop in Pennsylvania. The murders were witnessed by a truck driver whose description of Michael Jaeger was nearly identical to Harriet's. It was then the clouds over Harriet parted and rays of relief shown down on her. The FBI laid off, the guards disappeared and she was allowed to recover in peace and quiet, they even let her keep Snowflake in her room, something that infinitely raised her spirits and pulled her though.
Her parents never came by for a visit, Harriet later learned they had cleared out shortly after the news of Harriet's admission to the hospital became known. Harriet knew they would never be able to afford the medical bills she'd wracked up and decided that Harriet would die anyways and made a run for it. It was probably the best news Harriet had ever heard, she was no longer burdened by them. The last week of her hospital stay she followed the manhunt for Michael closely. It wasn't that hard, every news channel, and Court TV had hourly updates on the status of the manhunt. Harriet knew he wasn't going to get caught by them, she knew it was up to her to find him and finish it.

After three weeks in the hospital Harriet was released. The sale of her house was enough to cover the medical bills and give her some traveling money. The last sightings of Michael had been in Florida, Michael Jaeger's home state. They were now saying that it was only a matter of time before the FBI caught him.
Harriet packed up all her things into her Jeep and with Snowflake in tow drove out of Blue Harbor never to return. In time her legend would become almost as great and in some circles even greater than that of Michael Jaeger. Eventually their legends would mesh into one evil person, a wicked goth who prayed on high schools on Halloween night. But none of them would ever know the real horror. A year or two after the investigation in the Meller Mansion was completed, it mysteriously burned down. Most believe it was angry townsfolk come to take their revenge but nobody was ever brought to trial, everyone was happy it was gone as if the memory of what had happened would go with it. Blue Harbor would return to the upscale New England village it had been before the murders, eventually the pictures of the 6 students killed that night would be taken from the main hallway of J.R. Latimer High and they would be forgotten. The town didn't want such things sullying their image.

Act II: Hollman Florida

Harriet ran her hands through her hair, it was cut short now, not butch short, but her long wonderfully silky hair was all cut off. She stood naked in front of the cheap shit motel mirror that probably hadn't been truly cleaned since this place opened. She could see her scars, they always seemed so much more evident on nights like these. She took several deep breaths and slowly let them go. Harriet slipped her ankh on and picked up her underwear. She slipped them on and turned to her setup.
She'd learned since the last meeting with Michael Jaeger, she wasn't going to fuck around this time. She had two knives, a small flip top pocket knife, and a large hunting knife, one in the pocket, one in the boot. She had a FN Barracuda 357, hollow points made from silver. She had no clue if the silver was going to do shit but she wanted to see, it was obvious this fucker wasn't playing on the same plane of reality so she decided to give it a try. Next was her Leatherman, her Zippo, flashlight, full box of 357 rounds not silver just normal rounds, silver was way too expensive, lockpicks, and cell phone. Harriet pulled on her stripped socks, and her big black cargo pants. She loaded her pockets up, she never would have thought those two extra pockets would come in so handy. Next went on her black tank top and then her black work shirt with two big red dragons on the front. " You stay put huh, Snowflake" she said lacing up her black boots.
Snowflake was sitting on the middle of the bed, the toothless yokel said no pets but he wasn't going to fuckin' argue with her. Harriet left the motel room she had that little thought if she would get back and what would happen to Snowflake if she didn't. That hillbilly would probably cook her for dinner.
Harriet climbed into her car and took a long deep breath, it was time for that fucker to pay.

Wes Jenkins slid his hands up Tammy Barnes's cheerleading top until both hands found her sweaty sports bra. Wes and Tammy were busy in Wes' pickup after the football game. He'd been pursing Tammy, the newest cheerleader for weeks now and finally she agreed to go to the beach with him. " Ow" yelped Tammy as she banged her head on the passenger side door.
" Wha?" asked Wes.
" This isn't going to work" she said.
" Us?" asked Wes, desperately hoping he wasn't going home without getting off.
" No, your truck" said Tammy, " come on, let's do it in the sand."
Tammy pulled the handle and gracefully tumbled out of the truck planting her bare feet in the white sand of the beach. Wes stumbled out of his truck and saw something fly at him.
Tammy's cheerleading top hit Wes in the face to Tammy's giggles. Tammy unzipped her skirt and let it drop to her ankles. Wes smiled as he tugged his football jersey off, he knew not washing the thing all season would bring him some great luck. He grabbed the blanket from the floor of his truck and followed Tammy to the beach.
They laid the blanket out and once again went back to making out. Piece by piece their remaining clothes were shed until it was time. " Wait" said Tammy.
" Wha?" asked Wes.
" Are you forgetting something?" asked Tammy, glancing southward.
" I'll pull out" he said.
" Please?" asked Tammy.
" Okay" said Wes.
Wes hurried, he was racing against the clock. He yanked the door open and opened the glove box. He grabbed the half empty box of condoms inside the glove box and struggled to tear one off the strip. In the end he tore the strip nearly in half, two condoms falling from their wrappers on the sand covered floor of the truck. " Shit" growled Wes, quickly losing the race.
Not willing to wait any longer Wes wrapped one of the condoms and blew on it a few times in the belief this would take the sand off. He rolled it over himself and turned. Tammy was nowhere to be seen. " Tammy?!?!" he called out, nervous he wasn't going to get any. Wes walked back over to the blanket and saw a red stain. He dipped his finger into the warm liquid and saw it was blood. " Dude" he said.
He looked up and saw the pipe swinging right at him.

" And that is what happened to Wes and Tammy" said Billy, the gangly storyteller, " they never found Tammy's body, Wes they found floating in the surf. I was the dude who found Wes that morning. Shit taught me that getting up before noon was a shitty idea."
Around a crackling fire on the beach a group of teens were sitting around listening to the guy tell his story as they passed the joint around. The only person in the group that didn't touch the most excellent Columbian Gold was the quiet goth who was leaning against a palm tree just outside the circle. " Man I was told this Beach Comber was that old hippie freak Dooley" said one of the guys.
" Fuck you ass" snapped one of the girls barely staying in her bikini top, " I went to school with Dustin Dooley."
" Hardcore" said Billy, " you mean you knew the Beach Comber?"
" Not really" she said, " he was just another hesher down on his luck, he was a super senior when I was a freshman, I'm pretty sure he dropped out after that year."
" Round the time the Beach Comber made his first kill" Billy said, " Dustin Dooley, the wickest man to ever cut the waves."
He took a huge hit and blew out smoke rings, no doubt incredibly pleased with the title he just made up. " Must be kinda hard for this Beach Comber to hide out during the day, not like this beach is exactly off the beaten path" the goth in the back said.
" Yah but there is a swamp at the end of the beach" he said, rolling another fat joint.
He lit up and slowly let a long plume of smoke go before continuing, " There is an old shack out there" he said, " that's where he hides."
" Really" she said, toying with the hem of black shirt, " what if I want to see this shack for myself."
Billy let off a long goofy laugh, the laugh of a chronic pot smoker. " Sure" he said after his laughing fit died down, " go down the beach, you'll have to go a fair way but you'll see the swamp. I hope those boots aren't just for show because the shack is a ways in."
" Thanks" said Harriet, she wanted to add, for the most redneck directions I have ever recieved.
Harriet left the circle and started down the beach in the direction that he had pointed.

" Dude" said one of the guys, " you let that fine piece of ass go by herself?"
" Yah man, that is like so not cool" said another, " we should go and protect her, man."
" You two want to go after her?" asked Billy.
" Hell yah" said the first, " you see those boobs, those things are righteously spankable, man."
" Righteously" the other said.
Billy looked at his two idiot buddies, Deke and Kenny. They were idiots but fuck they were right, protecting her from the big bad boogeyman in the swamp would get them all lucky. " But first" he said, " I want to finish up. Don't let good weed go to waste."

Harriet had walked over a mile before she saw the beginnings of the swamp. It looked incredibly ominous. Harriet felt cold sticky sweat slowly rolling down her back. She didn't want to go in, everything in her mind told her not to. But she did, he was in there and she wasn't done with him yet.
The swamp stuck, the ground squished under her feet and all around Harriet could hear the movement of animals sliding through the underbrush. For the moment Harriet was more afraid of the snakes moving around her than she was of any possible people in the swamp.
The walk felt like forever, each step Harriet wanted to turn and flee but each step she made herself go forward. After almost an hour of slogging through soggy ground and ankle deep mud she finally spied a light cutting through the swamp. Harriet tense up and leaned against a cypress tree. She could see a tiny little shack cobbled together from old construction materials. The entire shack had a lean to one side and looked ready to collapse at any second. The light came from a lantern sitting by the only window in the shack which had both panes broken. Harriet gently leaned against the tree and watched for a few moments until she saw a figure move by the lantern. He was home.

Harriet carefully made her way closer and closer to the shack, moving from tree to tree to hid her moments. Harriet got close, her heart was pounding in her chest, the blood racing through her veins so loud it made it hard to hear anything above it. She felt her scars burning, it was a strange feeling, it didn't hurt but each scar seemed to come alive as if they could smell their quarry.

Now was the big moment, there were no large trees between Harriet and the shack, she had to make it to the side of the shack without being seen. She carefully took her pistol out from the waistband of her pants and moved for the shack.
She glided across the open soggy ground and before she knew it was safely against the side of the shack. She slowly inched her way to the window, she could hear through the thin wall as somebody was moving about on the other side of the wall.
Harriet peeked in through the window and laid her eyes on Dustin Dooley. She was incredibly disappointed, it was Michael Jaeger at all, he was shorter, much less built, and the hair colour was all wrong. The man that was moving about her height, gangly, with long shaggy sun bleached blonde hair and an equally shaggy beard. He looked like a beach bum not some horrible killer. That was until he turned around.
Around his neck was a hemp necklace that hung down to midway on rather featureless chest. Attached to the necklace were six human ears, each still pierced with a different style of earring. He may not be Michael Jaeger but he wasn't a good guy.

Dustin suddenly tensed up, Harriet ducked back around the corner of the shack. Shit, he must have seen me, she thought, sweat now racing down her body like a river. " Did you hear something?" came a strange hollow, almost other worldly voice, " what did you hear my precious."
Harriet gripped her pistol tighter and tighter until her knuckles were bleach white. She couldn't help but tremble, god it seemed so incredibly easy when you think about it but when you are face to face with actually harming another person it becomes infinite hard, Harriet thought, oh shit I fucked up bad this time.
The door to shack slowly scraped on the uneven porch. Harriet knew there was nowhere to run and even if there was it was too late. Harriet flipped the safety off on her pistol, the redneck at the gunshop she bought this from gave her a 2 minute run through on how to shoot and now she just hoped she remembered it all.
Dustine appeared, a weird light glinting in his eyes. " Pretty" he said, " you will become one of my preciouses."
He drew out a long bladed hunting knife, knife hell it looked more like a sword. " Stop!" shouted Harriet raising her pistol.
He grinned at her showing a mouth of blackened broken teeth, " Don't struggle precious" he said, " you won't shoot me."
Harriet pulled the trigger, the gunshot split their ears and suddenly the wall of the shack exploded in a plume of dust. Dustin let off a shriek as he was pelted by the chunks of wall and rushed at her the knife glinting in the moonlight.

Everything became incredibly slow, the world seemed to have stopped spinning. Harriet took a breath, the fear cleansed from her body by the foul swamp air. Everything seemed so simple now, him or me, him or me, was all that went through her mind. She squeezed the trigger.

Boom, Dustin dropped to the ground, the bullet had hit his leg, the soft silver tips she'd bought were made into instant dum-dum rounds and had shattered his leg. He hissed at her and struggled to retreat back into his shack, obviously for something bigger to attack her with. Harriet calmly followed, the entire world beyond Dustin Dooley had become dark and distant, as if it was all just off stage in a play. She rounded the corner and entered the shack.

Dustin lay on the shack floor, blood racing from his mangled leg. " Please, please don't" he begged his voice suddenly normal, " I don't want to do this, but I have to."
" So do I" said Harriet, coolly squeezing the trigger again.
The bullet went in just above his left eye, it cracked his skull like a fresh melon. There was a strange rush of cold air through the shack. Harriet let it go around her, it felt like shoulders and arms brushing by her in a crowded hallway. Warmth seemed to fill the shack after the cold air left, it seemed free now.
Harriet turned around and saw three guys from the beach standing in the doorway staring in horror. One of them was the storyteller who had pissed his boardshorts, one of the others was green and turned just in time to begin to vomit. They ran in terror as Harriet walked towards the door. She exited out onto the porch and sat down in the ancient lawn chair by the door and took out her cell phone. The police would love to hear this.

Harriet crossed the state line leaving Florida behind. She didn't know what to think about her encounter. She had faced Dustin Dooley down and this time she bested him. But she had taken a life, but she didn't feel bad. She thought of all the Tammys of the world that Dustin Dooley would not kill and his death filled Harriet with a sense of accomplishment. It may have not been Michael Jaeger but it was a start.
Sitting next to Snowflake in the passenger seat was a receipt from the bank that showed she had cashed a 50,000 dollar reward given to her by the Florida Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They had been very pleased when they arrived to find Dustin's shack, they found six female bodies to go with the six ears he had sliced off and strung on his necklace. She let the three beach stoners get the press and let them be labeled the heroes. Harriet didn't feel like a hero, she was simply Harriet Prentiss and she was going to devote her life to finding Michael Jaeger and all his ilk that fill the world with nightmares. She was learning, she knew it would take time before she could handle herself.
Harriet's Jeep drove west, her journey had only begun.

Join Harriet For Her Next Adventure in Final Girl II: The Gimp Ball